The Association between sensation seeking and well-being among college-attending emerging adults
Abstract
Sensation seeking is a known risk factor for unsafe and reckless behavior among college students, but its association with well-being is unknown. Given that exploration plays an important psychosocial role during the transition to adulthood, we examined the possibility that sensation seeking is also associated with psychological wellbeing. In a large multisite US college sample (N = 8,020), scores on the Arnett Inventory of Sensation Seeking were positively associated with risk behavior, psychological well-being, and eudaimonic well-being. When sensation seeking dimensions were examined separately, well-being was found to be associated with high novelty seeking but with low intensity seeking.
Citation
Journal of College Student Development, volume 54, number 1 (January/February 2013)
Rights
OpenAccess
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 License.